Mechanical golf cup



'May 16, 1950 s. G. CLARKE MECHANICAL GOLF CUP Filed Oct. 20, 1948 [Pu/eh for sl o/ne/ G Clarke Patented May 16, 1950 and ,egzceeqinglyfisensitive cundeviQe Whioh when plaeed, 11.11;ca et xmoizh ic, ui'fwift w infii mitl the tryxnf mwiu e ain:a ol e e fimk d. athepmper irection .r n itn the pr pe ght u whi h il iee an a ewete eri il p ei v weig eg bal fl o veryvc oselxi ugi catethfi. @2 13:

,atiegi t in@sssi y: puezwr at? allpyvances not requiregl on a pluijting g reen 1n the i' 9ki 1 .f lb 1 .-I

er r er mpo et t ieqt e q Prev-m me h ni JiR f ik? W jn t ,th we; curately duplicate the' rimnfifi action occur;- ring when an improperly stroked ball rir nlgja hole: V. w The prineipai feature of the inventi9n con sists in providing a cub 'having'as 's'eparate riiejr nb'er,"

a circular" kioftton};plate andan annular rir'n, the rim and bottom-being suppdrtegiat oiaposite ends' of levers bent "transversely intermediate their lengthto form bearing -fulcr'a, the moment of the rim-being of greater magnitude than the inqrnent of the-bottom about 'said fulcra to siting the'leyers abouttheir fulcra to effect a-r'aisingof the'bottorn and the lowering of the ri'm'to an equilihriumpositionx adjacent the supporting Surface, the ciip thus permittingitheareadyi entryaof a golf balI within the'rim; whereupon the weight of the ball upon entry I upsets the equilibrium of the cup members to fiefiectmheloweringlofitheflbottom and the raising-- of the rirh to present=a barrier sufficient ta retain; a slow-moving or properly Weighted-mallcwithintthetcupi A u ther m o tan eat x p onsists; pro: vidine; ame W: e .Ye; he? im. amt: o t m e mpe s. anei nee jmw nn eu sl ee -i idetee relative movement ofthe movable cungnembere a. t l u the m a ient; at r in rrangin ,f heriever 'c rs l mf fin ell v i 11 m mamm l: it n imp n i sr ntthe tt mto qpgage jtp sartaq j hteehevev heteby as ll. Qi ne m m he; mnq pm eie eet were; wi ,ri fie. memw n, ila lfia e leeiv r -4169mm snento e he hall 2 9151 m 1 at Q i. al n n immiee kie- 'llle-Qnm fii' e' r fiei a fm l he 2i 7 ure 1 is a plan view of my mechanical cup (le tuce, figur s; xixi-flvexi -2 2M,v sec iqnal; iw the l1i e .,2-2--of Fig e1. v

' g re fis an n arged Zimm rman? le i i vt of, theQjcupbottom. showing the 'levl$ ar ament inmheiroperating slots, Figurei is a verticalflsectional viewjhrongh cupnde vi ee angl cntti ng the .bottong plate Lthie; cupalon thehline 4 v.. v4fof Eig1ire, 3j,j and; y trat ingzthe cup, rim, andhottorn glate in their Figure 5 is a view'similar 4 but ,il;e lusti ating tl amanrier in-which the is e1e-' vated as the cup; lo. .ttorr 1, is depres ulldgil thg weightof a'ogolfiball,

F ur fii fl finlar ed fra m etervee epe tiye viewojjthecupjim. j "7Q re r en nla ed .fra mcntay qn e i w of the frame retaining the out): rim and 'Qttonr,

fieu efir a n ar ed perspectiv ,w mom of.. thevbperat n g e e s It is a, common-P a t e( m n q femienxasze i eputtinegon arpets' ior ot e f hki fi ulatin g ete, andiytol' providehaft rget 't cate the a cilrecmoi hew utti t-i cu er- 5 mqnmaplaq m ler r he xkeqnits sisle kl E K hfi lfiq lidfihqm .thi fhet W ik hieipraq ice prov d s 'anlir i a nne "ti he m ra mt he tti e t iv s.M 1. t mb whethen e ball has been. IzmnermstrokeqtQ ,drop or he; Qup. oi .{a pu in reen, he? J J-th .-T 0 3 pu tinelmighteain accureeyi upreme ball strongly, but, in doing so he .wouldgnglhe gaining any v practice which would. improve; his,

u i e; r iputtiner reen,

c e lili actual game'o gem i a, V

The slots 1 are arranged between the slots 6 with adjacent slots 6 and I forming a slot pair to receive a lever 8 preferably constructed as shown in Figure 8. This lever is bent transversely at 9 intermediate its length towards one end thereof to define a relatively short lever arm I and a relatively longer lever arm I I with the bent portion 9 forming a bearing fulcrum therebetween.

The end of the lever arm I9 is enlarged and is provided with an upturned flange I2 which is adapted to engage in the slot 6 of one of the slot pairs. A small tab extension I3 projecting from the flange l2 serves to retain the flange in position in the slot 6.

The lever arm II, which is arranged to project through the peripheral slot I of the slot pair as illustrated particularly in Figure 4, is formed with an enlarged head I4 which is adapted to engage the undersurface of the rim 2 when the rim, is placed above and around the bottom plate I. V

In the normal position assumed by the bottom plate and the rim of the cup, as illustrated in Figure 4, the rim, supported by the lever arms II of the levers 8, acts, through its lever arms inaccordance with its moment as produced by the length of its lever arms and its weight, to swing the levers about their fulcra 9 to elevate the bottom plate I which acts through the lever arms III with a moment corresponding to the length of said latter lever arms and the, weight of the bottom plate.

The proportions of the lever are such in con junction with the relative Weights of the cup bottom plate and rim that the rim normally moves to its lowermost position to swing the bottom plate upwardly adjacent the underside thereofthrough the rocking of said levers on their fulcra to the position of Figure 4.

As Will be seen from Figure 3, in rocking the levers to elevate the bottom plate the enlarged angularly arranged heads I4 of the lever arms I I will swingv down as permitted by the peripheral slots 1 into engagement with the upper face of the bottom plate, and said enlarged heads are provided with notches l5 to receive the tab extension I3 of the next adjacent lever when swung to against the upper surface of the bottom plate.

At the balance or equlibrium position of the rim. and bottom, as shown in Figure 4, the separation of the cup members will be substantially equal to. the thickness of the metal forming the levers, and the rim is lowered to adjacent the carpet or floor surface on which the cup is placed.

Upon a weight, such as the golf ball I6, being placed on the bottom plate I the equilibrium of the relatively movable rim and bottomcup memberswill be upset with the moment of the plate acting through its lever arms II affecting the rocking of the levers about their fulcra 9 which in turn effects the lowering of the bottom plate I and the elevation of the rim 2 to the positions as illustrated in Figure 5.

, Thus the depth of the cup is increased by the entry of the golf ball corresponding to the relative vertical motion of the bottom plate and rim, and the rim in its elevated position thus presents a substantial barrier which will prevent the ball from rolling out over the edge of the cup.

', The relative movements of the bottom plate and rim are chosen however so that the barrier presented upon elevation of the rim and depression 'oflthe bottom will not be sufiicient to retain a ball that has been stroked too hard or that is moving with a velocity greater than thespeed of 4 a ball which would normally drop" into a hole on an actual putting green.

In the relative vertical movements of the rim and bottom plate the rim is guided by means of upturned lugs I I projecting upwardly from the annular frame 4 and spaced from the frame flange 5. Thus in the vertical movement of the rim it operates between the frame flange 5 and. the lugs I1, while the bottom plateis centered and retained in position Within'the lugs I1.

Preferably the central portion I8 of the bottom plate is depressed so that when the plate moves to its lowermost position the central portion will lie below the peripheral portion supported by the lever arms I 0 and thus effectively increase the depth of the cup without increasing the height of the rim from the floor or carpet surface when in its normal depressed equilibrium position as shown in Figure 4.

, Surrounding the frame 4 is an annular ramp I9 which provides a very gradual incline from the floor carpeted surface to the rim when the rim is in its normal depressed position. Preferably, this ramp I9 is covered with a thin felt or other suitable fabric 29 to provide a surface corresponding to the surface of a putting green. 7

It will be appreciated that the cup when placed on the carpet or other practice surface will be extremely flat with its rim in the depressed equilibrium position and the gradually sloping extremely low ramp I9 will not materially impede a ball rolling into contact therewith and will not deflect the ball from its course.

Upon the ball moving over the rim of the cup, as illustrated in Figure 2, it will, as previously explained, contact the elevated bottom plate I and will thereupon effect the lowering of the bottom plate and the elevation of the rim to provide a barrier which will prevent the ball, unless it is moving at an excess speed, from rolling out of the cup.

With my arrangement it will be understoo that a golf ball may be stroked towards the mechanical cup without requiring any corrective allowance for direction and weight due to the extremely gradual slope and low height of the ramp, and the, ball, on entering the hole when its direction is correct, will be retained in the hole unless it has been stroked too hard, in which case it will, as on the actual puttin green, move out of the hole, indicating to the person putting an error in judgement of the weight of the put.

In the event the ball enters the side of the hole the section of the rim adjacent the ball will rise and the ball will be deflected with the rim rising in anticipation to the ball movements to force it to circle the cup. Again, should the strength or force of the ball be too great, or should it have too much spin imparted in the stroke, it will follow the rim of the cup for a short distance and then will move out of the cup, very closely and realistically duplicating the action of the ball in rimming the cup on a normal putting green.

In addition to the practice and amusement afforded by my cup device, it will be appreciated that it will be extremely simple to manufacture with the partsbeing readilystamped and formed and assembled at a relatively low cost.

While I have shown one particular and efficient way of eilecting the relative movement of the rim and bottom members of the cup, it will be appreciated that modifications in structure afiecting this relative movement of the cup members may be employed without departing from the scope of my invention.

With the provision of the rim flange 3 and the arrangement of the levers 8 to extend peripherally of the bottom plate, it will be appreciated that the head portion [4 of the levers will cooperate With said rim flange 3 to lock the annular rim against radial displacement by the ball when rolling in contact therewith.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A golf practice device comprising a cup having separate relatively movable rim and bottom portions, and lever means connecting said rim and bottom portions and fulcrumed whereby said portions are normally maintained in substantially coplanar balanced relation said portions being adapted to be displaced from said normal coplanar balanced position upon entry of a golf ball within said rim to elevate said rim and depress said bottom to retain the ball.

2. A golf practice cup having a bottom plate and a rim separate from said bottom plate, levers bent transversely intermediate their length to provide bearing fulcra and defining lever arms either side of said fulcra, corresponding lever arms on one side of the fulcra of said levers supporting said bottom plate, and corresponding lever arms on the opposite side of said fulcra supporting said rim, the moment of said rim being greater than the moment of said bottom plate about said fulcra to rock said levers about their fulcra to effect elevation of said bottom plate and the depression of said rim to a normal equilibrium position, said equilibrium being such as to be destroyed by the entry of a golf ball within said rim to depress said bottom plate and elevate said rim through said levers to provide a barrier acting to retain said ball within the cup.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 in which a ramp is provided to surround said cup and to form a gradual incline leading up to the top of said rim when said rim is in the depressed equilibrium position.

4. A device as claimed in claim 2 having a frame to receive said rim and bottom plate and means on said frame to guide said rim and bottom plate in their relative movements.

5. A golf practice cup comprising a circular frame, a ramp surrounding said frame, a circular bottom plate and an annular rim having a downturned flange surrounding said plate arranged within said frame, said plate being formed with a plurality of peripherally spaced pairs of slots adjacent the edge thereof, a plurality of levers bent transversely intermediate their length to provide bearing fulcra and each having one end thereof engaging one of the slots of the slot pair and having the other end extending through the other slot of the slot pair and engaging said rim, the moment of said rim being greater than the moment of said bottom plate above the fulcra of said levers to rock said levers to effect the elevation of said bottom plate and the depression of said rim, said levers being actuatable under the Weight of a golf ball rolling on said bottom plate to rock on said bearing fulcra to effect the depression of said bottom plate and the elevation of said rim to provide a barrier acting to retain the ball within the cup rim.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5 in which the ends of said levers engaging in said slots are formed with means to lock same from displacement from said slots.

'7. A device as claimed in claim 5 in which said circular frame is in the form of an annulus having an upturned peripheral flange and upturned lugs spaced inwardly of said flange and forming with said flange a guideway to receive the downturned rim flange to guide the movements of said rim.

8. A device as claimed in claim 5 in which the central portion of said bottom plate is depressed below the periphery thereof.

9. A golf practice device comprising a cup having separate relatively movable rim and bottom portions, and levers fulcrumed intermediate their length and supporting said rim and bottom at opposite ends thereof with said rim and bottom normally balanced in substantially coplanar relation, said levers being adapted to be rocked about their fulcra upon entry of a golf ball within said rim to upset said balance to effect the elevation of said rim and depression of said bottom.

SIDNEY G. CLARKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,295,437 Cogswell Feb. 25, 1919 1,573,415 Mendes et al. Feb. 16, 1926 1,691,935 Paterson Nov. 20, 1928 2,092,157 Hansen Sept. '7, 1937 

